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Sunday, October 14, 2012

Census Sunday: The Sullivans

Laura and Will Sullivan
with some grandchildren

Judging by the number of photos of the Sullivans passed
down through the family, I suppose my great-grandmother Mary Frances Jollett
Davis and her sister Laura were very close and that the Sullivan and Davis
cousins enjoyed each other as well. In
fact, I remember my grandparents getting together with the Sullivan girls
frequently even in their older years.

In the 1940 Shenandoah, Virginia census, William J. and
Laura Sullivan, both age 74, were still living on North Third Street where they
owned a home valued at $2000. Uncle Will
had only a fourth grade education, but he was a successful merchant who owned a
store. However, he claimed no income for
1939 yet worked 60 hours the last week of March 1940.

Click to enlarge

Living with them was their daughter Floral (enumerated as
Flora) who at age 44 was yet unmarried. (Now
I wonder when she and Cletus Merica married.)
She had three years of high school and was working as an assistant
cashier at the bank. Floral earned $900
for a full year’s work in 1939, which equates to about $14,917 today. The last week of March 1940 she put in 48
hours.

Uncle Will was listed on one of the two lines that asked additional
questions. Two bits of information came
to light: he had no Social Security number
and he was not a veteran of any military forces.

Click to enlarge

What the 1940 census does not reveal was Uncle Will’s
service to the community as a member of the School Board and town council at
different times. He was also on the YMCA
Board of Directors.

Living right next door was their daughter Pearl
(enumerated as Lula P.). Her husband
Clyde Strole (indexed on Ancestry as “Stoole” but correctly on FamilySearch) was a brakeman
for the railroad and earned $2411 in 1939, which is roughly $39,960 today. They owned their home valued at $2500. Pearl
had completed two years of high school and was listed as a homemaker with no
income. Their daughter Pauline at age 17
had completed three years of school. She
was not employed nor was she looking for work.
Below are two views of what I think are the same house. The first is Laura and Will's house as it looked in the 1920s. The second is what I'm sure is the same house photographed but unidentified by my mother in the 1990s. The widow's walk and peak on the roof are gone, but the sidelights at the front door, steps to a slightly raised porch and placement of columns are the same.

Leota, Pearl and daughter Maxine,
and probably Floral at the Sullivan house
about 1920

9 comments:

How delightful to learn about life for the Sullivans. I especially like the second to last photo, with them posing in front of the picket fence! The houses were so enchanting back then...! The little children all dressed up are so sweet too, with a bow tie even!

I wondered about the occasion of that photo too. Maybe they were a flower girl and ring bearer, but I don't know that people did all that back in the 1920s. My other thought was maybe a Tom Thumb wedding. I wish I knew.

I love when my family got the bonus questions. My great-grandmother got them too, so that's 2 in the same BIG family.

Love the older picture of the house. Now, that's a home! I wonder what family occasion the first picture represents. My guess would be that the girl was a bridesmaid or flower girl in a wedding. Everyone looks so nicely dressed, even for that more formal age.

Interesting how you put those wages in current-year terms. Even at that, it's not much money to survive on for an entire year. Life was so much simpler back then, for necessity's sake if nothing else.

Yeah, Daddy tried that on Charleston Ave. LOL. He was turned down flat! I would love to go in Momma's birthplace home and her house before they moved to Cradock. We could probably get in that house since the lady that lives there is Scoop's neighbor.

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About Me

My name is Wendy. About twenty years ago, I helped my mother research the Jolletts. Since retiring from teaching, I have expanded my research which I share here. When I’m not looking for my own family, I index for FamilySearch and the Greene County Historical Society.
Welcome to Jollett Etc. Please leave a comment to let me know you were here. If you have more information or believe we are related, EMAIL ME at wendymath at cox dot net